Footage of the hot air balloon exploding and falling back to earth. A hot air balloon ride turned to tragedy Tuesday when the balloon exploded and plummeted to the ground, killing 19 people. It was the deadliest hot air balloon accident in the world in at least 20 years.

The balloon carrying 21 tourists from Hong Kong, Japan, France, Britain and Hungary was flying at 300 metres when it exploded and caught fire, a security official said.

The pilot and one tourist survived by jumping out of the basket moments before it hit the ground, said an employee at the company operating the balloon, Sky Cruise. Both were taken to hospital.

Posted Feb-26-2013 By

oletbrasiliasta

@oletbrasiliasta The same physics that explains how the twin towers had their steel completely melted at a higher temperature than jet fuel and office chairs. Where all four corners melted at the same time thus resulting in free fall speeds where more steel was instantly crushed again at free fall speeds. That's the physics my friend.

Posted Feb-26-2013 By

live_leakuser01

Posted Feb-26-2013 By

oletbrasiliasta

@oletbrasiliasta my guess: the balloon was just feet from landing, when it caught fire, then quickly rose to 1000 feet. I say the pilot and 1 smart passenger realized it was best to bail out at the start of the fire, and not wait until it got to 1000 ft up.